Half of €340 million for national defense already covered with contracts
Of the government's €340 million extra defense funding, over half has been covered with contracts, Magnus-Valdemar Saar, head of the Estonian Center for Defense Investments (RKIK) said.
"Of €340 million in extra funding for military national defense, mainly aimed at boosting strategic sustainability – expendable materials and munitions mostly – more than half has already been fixed in contracts," Saar said at a Ministry of Defense press conference on Monday.
As concerns articles to be purchased, contracts are in place for four-fifths of it, Saar added.
"Some important things are still outstanding – [for example] indirect fire munitions regarding which we hope to sign contracts inside the next month," the RKIK director said.
He said that Russia's aggression [in Ukraine] has not resulted in major price hikes or supply delays yet, despite countries scrambling to scale up defense investments.
That said, negotiations for infrastructure investments are dragging on, mainly due to material delays, for instance, as concerns steel, Saar explained.
The government decided in January to boost broad-based national defense spending by €380 million to be able to act faster and more effectively in meeting miliary and hybrid threats. Of that sum, €340 will be allocated to the Ministry of Defense, while the rest will mainly reach the administrative area of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski